TWELTH Night is traditionally a time to untangle the tinsel and box away the baubles, but for one Buckhurst Hill garden centre it represents one of the biggest challenges of the year – chopping down Trafalgar Square's giant Christmas tree.

Staff at Connaught Farm Nurseries, off Epping New Road, have been dismantling and composting the nation's largest festive decoration for 14 years now, and this year even caught the eye of London mayor Boris Johnson, as he campaigns to get more people to recycle their trees.

The nursery was first given the job after its management successfully applied for the contract in the 1990s.

Owner Bob Church said: “We're always very pleased to be involved in the process. The actual work is just like any other job we do, but of course we're honoured to be part of the tradition.

“We work with the other contractors to bring it down and then we chainsaw it and then chip it in Trafalgar Square.”

The remains of the tree are then put onto a lorry and whisked to Buckhurst Hill, before being laid to compost for two years.

“After that we take it back to London,” said Mr Church.

“It goes back to the Greater London Assembly and they use it in flower beds such as in Parliament Square, City Farm and Hyde Park.

“We've never had any problems with it – perhaps that's why we keep getting the job every year,” he joked.

Speaking after the grand dismantling of the 20 meter tall pine, mayor Boris Johnson said: "The Trafalgar Square tree is the mother of all Christmas trees, so it is right that we take the lead in disposing of it in an eco-friendly way.

“I call on all to bestow a last act of kindness to the forest of trees that have given so much pleasure in our sitting rooms, and ensure they are recycled to have a more fruitful future than being cruelly tossed away."

According to the Local Government Association, a group which represents the nation's councils, extra Christmas waste costs the taxpayer £78million in landfill charges every year, with around three million tonnes of rubbish thrown away every festive season.

Visit recycleforessex.co.uk for more information about recycling in the district.